Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Young women and men today must grapple with serious social,
political and environmental problems inherited from their elders.
Yet they are systematically excluded from policy decisions, even
though young people make up one quarter of humanity. By
marshalling the energy, creativity and talents of youth to address
the multiple inequalities they face, we will all reap a demographic
dividend and build a fairer world.
www.oxfam.org
SUMMARY
Inequalities between generations have grown at an alarming rate over I hope every girl finds
the past few decades, paralleling the rise in the gap between rich and the courage to beat
the odds and shine
poor. The policies that enabled an outrageously large portion of the
through all the
worlds wealth to accrue to the very top of the income spectrum have hardships and
delivered a difficult present and uncertain future to a huge majority of obstacles that society
today's youth. imposes on girls and
all people belonging
At the same time, young people possess the energy, creativity and to marginalized
passion to take on the intractable problems they have inherited from their communities.
elders. Less imprisoned by ideological and institutional strictures, they Zainab Asif Dar, 22 years old,
have demonstrated the ability to think outside the box and develop student, Pakistan
innovative solutions.
The youth population of the world is the largest it has ever been: 1.8
billion people between the ages of 10 and 24, the majority of whom live in
urban areas of developing countries. Given their numbers, youth could
offer many of the worlds poorest countries a demographic dividend:
when todays young people attain working age, they will far outnumber
the dependent population. With the right investments and policies aimed
at youth, across sub-Saharan Africa that dividend could be as much as
one-third of the regions current GDP, for as many as 30 years.
Despite their strength in numbers and their creative potential, youth are
largely excluded from formal political processes and continue to be
subject to age-based systems of authority. Even though they will bear the
brunt of the world's unsolved dilemmas, like the effects of climate
change, they are marginalized politically and culturally. This sad fact is
evident in adult-centric public policies and in social norms and values that
usually fail to take into account of young peoples views, interests or
voices.
2
youth and building connections among youth from different regions of the
world. Similarly, there has been a 50 percent increase in the number of
countries that have national youth policies.
Young people will be instrumental in finding solutions to the challenge of As a young Dene
inequality. Today's youth form the generation that has the best chance to woman, I have seen
end poverty, stop climate change and ensure the Sustainable and experienced
oppression first-handI
Development Goals (SDGs) become a reality. Support and solidarity
understand that it will be
from their elders can help them gain the power, knowledge, and skills to up to my generation and
achieve these goals. younger generations to
actively see the UNs
Parents, educators, policy makers and other leaders should ally with Sustainable
young people in tackling norms and behaviors that prevent us all from Development Goals
realizing our fundamental rights and building a more tolerant, peaceful through to fruition. It is a
and just society. big responsibility.... I will
try to do my part in my
Since 2014 Oxfam has called for urgent action to tackle extreme own home communities.
inequality, which threatens to undermine the last quarter-centurys
Angela Code, 27-year-old Sayisi
progress in reducing poverty. Inequality, in its various forms, poses a Dene First Nations woman,
fundamental challenge to youth well-being today around the world. We northern Manitoba, Canada
hope this paper will contribute to a deeper understanding of the
challenge, and to more effective action to address it.
3
1 INTRODUCTION
The leaders of this country, they say we are children and that youth are
the leaders of tomorrow, but tomorrow is never now. It is time that we
youth turn tomorrow into today. 1
In recent decades, as the gap between rich and poor has increased
rapidly around the world, the inequalities between generations have also
grown at an alarming rate. The policies that enabled an outrageous
portion of the worlds wealth to accrue to the very top of the income
spectrum have delivered the worlds youth a difficult present and
uncertain future.
The youth population of the world is the largest it has ever been: 1.8
billion people between the ages of 10 and 24, 1 the majority of whom live
in urban areas of developing countries. 2 Africa is the worlds most
youthful continent, with 60 percent of its population under age 24 and
19.5 percent between 15 and 24. 3 Asia has the most young people: 754
million, a number that has nearly tripled since 1950. 4
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, has pointed As a youth leader,
Im inspired to call for
out that the current generation of world youth live in a time of
other young people to
unprecedented opportunity, declaring that they are the first generation act on climate change
that can put an end to poverty and we are the last generation that can put as we know for a fact
an end to climate change. 6 that we will be the
ones directly affected
In a world that has witnessed a string of political uprisings led by youth in by climate change as
recent years, governments, international organizations, civil society and it worsens in the
the private sector must better understand the ways in which inequality future.
affects the lives of young people. We must better understand efforts to Langgin, 20 years old, Filipino
youth leader
increase youth social and political participation, increase their access to
employment and capital, and reduce the marginalization of vulnerable
groups. We must also ally with youth to change social norms and
behaviors that keep young people, especially young women, from
reaching their full potential.
1 Excerpt from speech of a Kenyan youth group leader, Kiserian, Kenya. March 2, 2014.
4
The paper begins with an analysis of the specific and disproportionate
impact of inequality on youth (section 2). It then offers an overview of
initiatives taken by governments and multilateral organizations to address
youth inequality (section 3), followed by an examination of exciting
initiatives undertaken by youth activist and youth organizations (section
4). The final section offers conclusions and recommendations for policy
makers, youth organizations and development groups (section 5).
5
2 HOW INEQUALITY
AFFECTS YOUTH
The world has changed and will change but ultimately what is required
[by youth] is the same: access to decent work and the possibility of
developing a life project.2
With the largest global youth population ever, millions of today's youth
are being failed by the world. They are bearing the burden of multiple
inequalitiessocial, economic and political. They lack access to basic
rights and far too many do not have a genuine chance to reach their
potential in life.
In some countries girls are more likely to die in childbirth than they are to
finish school, and an estimated one in three girls is married before the
age of eighteen, some as young as eight. More than 500 million young
people live on less than $2 a day, and nearly 126 million of them cannot
read a full sentence. 11
In many countries, the elderly too are hit hard by the yawning gap
between rich and poor. From the United States to Italy to Spain, a
growing number of people over 65 are staying in the labor market, thanks
largely to government cutbacks that limit pensions and raise the
retirement age, which also reduces opportunities for young people. 14
2 Guy Ryder, Director General of the ILO. Quoted in: UN News Centre. Youth employment an
absolute priority in South America UN labor chief
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=53875
6
What is inequality?
7
In many countries, both developed and developing, such public services
are becoming increasingly subject to fees that put them out of reach of
the majority of youth, particularly for young women. Tuition fees are
increasing and in some countries fees for primary education are being
introduced. 23 In Kenya, tuition for secondary school is rising far faster
than inflation and private secondary schools charge up to $23,600 (US)
per year. 24 When talented young people cannot afford to pursue
secondary or tertiary education, their talents are not nurtured and the
societies they live in suffer from a reduction in innovation and the loss of
their potential contributions.
For youth who manage to enter higher education, the challenge is not
only cost, but also quality. Benin in West Africa is a striking example. The
countrys only public university until 2001, the University of Abomey-
Calavi has long had problems with huge class sizes and inadequate
specialized training for science and technology students. With the
creation of other public universities starting in 2001, including the
University of Parakou and the Agriculture University of Ktou, 25 more
space has been created for students and overcrowding has eased.
However, private universities, sometimes unaccredited and largely
specializing in science and technology studies, still represent a large part
of the higher education market in Benin, with one estimate being that in
2009 private universities and colleges represented 20 percent of all
higher education enrolments. 26 While the government continues to
expand the public university network and to crack down on unaccredited
private institutions, students who can afford to are still choosing private
institutions in large numbers.
High tuition fees are also an issue for youth in rich countries. In the
United States, tuition fee hikesas high as 14 percent in a single year
have been accompanied by a decline in the quality of education, with
widespread cuts to programming and reduction in faculty even as the
student body grows. 27 In 2011 a massive youth movement known as Le
Printemps rable that swept Qubec successfully blocked increases to
tuition rates. Sixty-five percent of the province's full-time undergraduate
student population is in debt (for an average of $13,967 apiece, while
one in four owes more than $20,000). 28
Private provision of services skews their benefits towards the
richest, leaving the poorest and most vulnerable youth at a huge
disadvantage as they try to manage their transition into adulthood.
8
In Kenya during the post-election violence of 2007, reports emerged of
elite politicians hiring young unemployed men of their ethnic group to
serve as fighters in inter-ethnic group hostilities. 30 These youth carried
out the vast majority of the killings that took place in this horrific episode
in Kenyan history. Another example raised in the UN World Youth
Report, is that of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist from the 2008
Mumbai attacks in India. It is possible he was forced to join the operation
in return for a payment to his impoverished family. 31
Young unemployed men are also the most likely to join gangs and to Globally, over 73 million
youth are unemployed,
suffer violence at the hands of the police. In the United States, a
and young people are
Guardian investigation found that young black men aged 1534 were three times more
nine times more likely than the population at large to be killed by police likely to be jobless than
officers in 2015. 32 Latin America, one of the most unequal regions in the experienced workers
world, is at the same time one of the most unsafe, outside of war zones. and professionals. And
One World Bank case study examining Mexico's drug wars underscores despite some progress,
the relation between income inequality and criminal activities and girls and young women
involvement in gangs. 33 continue to face gender-
based discrimination in
More generally, high rates of youth unemployment lead to an increased all walks of life.
tendency to believe democracy is bad for the economy, that democracies Empower Women NGO
Newsletter, August 2015
are indecisive and inefficient, and that a rogue leader can rule better. 34
High rates of youth unemployment have been linked to social unrest, and
many argue that youth unemployment combined with the youth bulge in
the region played a key role in the Arab Spring and subsequent unrest in
the Middle East. 35 It is important to note however, that unemployment is
not the only factor that leads to youth involvement in protest and
violence. A recent study by MercyCorp concludes that a larger sense of
frustration at government, often due to poor governance and other
underlying factors, is more often the trigger. 36
Often within their own families and communities, young people have no
influence over decision making. Young people must grapple with norms
and behaviors that diminish the weight of their voices and reinforce
inequality. From disproportionately large shares in unpaid family work to
a denial of their right to sexual reproductive health, widely held
perceptions can result in severe socioeconomic challenges for youth.
9
Young women are specifically affected by societal norms around gender,
which can prevent them from participating in political activity, limit their
access to education, impose high levels of unpaid domestic work and
truncate their efforts to claim and use their rights. Women still earn far
less than men for comparable work, and women lack control over income
and wealth. Systemic discrimination against women and girls is both a
cause and result of the inequalities that drive poverty, and can be
exacerbated by class, ethnicity and age.
Society as a whole is worse off where there are high rates of youth
unemployment, reluctance to listen to youth voices and a severe lack of
opportunities for youth due to bias against their race, gender or ethnicity.
Youth will face the consequences of the serious problems their elders
have been unable to solve. The current generation of youth, particularly
the poorest youth, will likely spend their whole lives struggling with the
impact of the failure of the worlds governments to curb carbon
emissions. In local communities around the world, the search for
solutionsboth practical and politicalto living with climate change is
increasingly falling to a new generation of young people.
In addition, the ages of 18 to 25 are when young adults form their beliefs
on how politics, society and the economy work, and their experiences
during these years have lifelong impacts. Studies have shown that being
unemployed during these formative years makes one more likely to
believe that success comes from luck rather than hard work or talent, and
less likely to have confidence in public institutions. 38
Although the effects of the 2008 global recession have varied widely, youth
are consistently the most affected. What's more, youth have been hit
harder than in previous recessions. A study of 17 middle-income countries
found that youth experienced the largest rise in unemployment rates,
which was even higher for young women, youth members of another
marginalized group, and those living in rural areas. In 15 of the 17
countries included in the study, wage rates also decreased for youth. 40
10
that since 2008 youth unemployment has increased by 6.5 percent,
compared with only 4 percent in previous recessions. 42 Within the
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),
youth for the first time have replaced the elderly as being at the greatest
risk of poverty. 43 In many European countries long-term youth
unemployment now constitutes more than one-third of total youth
unemployment. 44
The outlook for youth is particularly bleak in South Asia, where youth
unemployment is four times higher than that for adults and is not
projected to improve soon due to additional millions of young people
entering the job market in the next five years. 45
Norms and beliefs in society can play a strong role in young peoples
contribution to unpaid care work and unpaid family labor. In many places
youth learn very early that women are exclusively responsible for the
care of children, for cooking and cleaning, and that it would be shameful
for a man to carry out any domestic work. Persistence of fixed gender
roles in the household mean that women spend much more time on
unpaid family labor than men. 50 As such, unpaid family work creates
barriers for young people, especially young women, seeking to attend
school or find paid work. 51
11
Figure 1: Global youth unemployment 19952015
e = estimate; p = projection
Source: ILO
12
The interest charges on student loans disproportionately affect the poor,
since they often pay 40 percent more for their education than those who
can pay out of pocket. These figures, based on government loans with
favourable terms, do not begin depict the plight of students who must also
turn to private sector loans.
Youth unemployment spiked during the recession and remains double the
overall unemployment rate. About one-third of young Canadians work in
58
part-time jobs, many of which are low paying and temporary.
Furthermore, 27.7 percent of Canadians aged 1524 were underemployed
59
in 2014. Since the financial crisis, more university graduates, and women
in particular, have been employed in jobs that require high-school-level
skills or less.
Young Canadians have also been earning less. Today's 2534-year-old
working full time makes $4,200 less per year than youth did three decades
ago, adjusted for inflation. The earnings gap between age cohorts has also
grown: in 1980, Canadians aged 2534 earned 47 percent less than 50
60
54-year-olds; now they earn 64 percent less.
13
3 GLOBAL YOUTH
POLICIES AND
INITIATIVES
Recent years have seen a considerable uptick in interest among world
leaders and civil society groups alike in advancing innovative solutions to
youth issues. The sudden preponderance of youth policies is evidence of
this trend: there was a 50 percent increase in the number of countries
with a national youth policy from 2013 to 2014, and in 2016 two-thirds of
the world (131 countries) had them. 61 Fourteen of the fifteen states of
Oceania had such policies, while in Africa they are now in place in 32 of
54 states. 62 While Canada has no national youth policy or strategy, the
federal government is currently initiating many new youth-related policies
(see Case study 2 below), and some provinces, such as Qubec, have
comprehensive youth policies.
Much current policy and most initiatives focus on the issues of youth
employment and education. Important as these are, additional effort must
be made in the equally important areas of civic and political participation,
gender justice, fostering leadership or amplifying the voices of youth.
Given the difficulty of assessing the impact of youth policies, this chapter
offers a number of case studies that highlight positive outcomes of
initiatives aimed at youth.
14
government funding. A recent Quartz article argues that successful
entrepreneurs come from families with money, and that this ability to fall
back on family financial resources is what allows them to take economic
risks. 63
15
YOUTH POLICY FRAMEWORKS AND
GUIDING DOCUMENTS
Multilateral, regional organizations and governing bodies have enacted Inequalities in social,
numerous broad frameworks and policy guides relating to youth well- economic and political
being, which have undoubtedly helped bring youth issues to the forefront conditions, including
of government priorities. These broad aspirational frameworks, such as racism and
the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, show that youth are being xenophobia lead to
increasing hunger,
recognized as an important focus in the future of global development.
deterioration in living
One of the major strengths of international rights-affirming documents conditions and poverty
and declarations is that they can provide a structure within which youth among youth and to
can assert their rights. their marginalization as
refugees, displaced
persons and migrants.
Table 1: Timeline of important rights instruments, declarations and policies World Programme of Action on
regarding youth well-being Youth
Year Title
66
2015 2030 Sustainable Development Goals 4 and 8
That said, the impacts on youth are indirect and inconsistent, as even
adopted policies often suffer from an implementation gap. For example,
the impact of the World Programme of Action for Youth (WPAY) has
been limited, with the UN Youth Envoy noting in 2014 that of 115
countries represented at the First Global Forum on Youth Policies, only
23 had made significant progress in implementing WPAY. 67
16
The African Unions Youth Charter has sparked a dramatic increase in
the number of national youth policies. Currently, 32 countries in Africa The focus on youth
employment in [SDG]
have a National Youth Policy in place, up from 23 in 2014. 68 Of the ten
Goal 8 provides a new
African nations that have passed new constitutions since 2006, nine
opportunity to mobilize
specifically mention the rights of children and youth. 69 broad global
partnerships to support
The Organization of American States (OAS) has a Youth Agenda, which action on a more
acts as a guide for increasing youth participation in politics and significant scale.
increasing access to skills, training and employment. The OAS Youth Increased investment is
Agenda focuses on three pillars: increasing dialogue with youth and needed to alleviate the
youth participation in OAS policy formation, capacity building for youth, scars of the [2008] crisis
and supporting youth leaders within member states. 70 This agenda on the present
represents a good starting point for including youth and drawing attention generation as well as to
to the issues they face. However, nearly a decade after its adoption, it ensure more inclusive
labor markets and
has yet to be translated into major policy positions.
societies.
Azita Berar Awad, Director ILOs
Other multilateral and civil society initiatives are worth mentioning. The Employment Policy Department.
Global Partnership for Youth Employment (GPYE) is a joint project of the
World Bank, the Youth Employment Network and the Understanding
Children's Work Project. It has supported detailed research into local
youth employment challenges, and has sparked greater understanding of
youth employment issues across many municipal and national
governments in the Middle East. 71 In Palestine, for example, more than
9,000 youth have been trained in business skills and the partnership has
elicited commitments from municipal governments to address youth
employment. 72
While such training and financing schemes have shown promise, their
effectiveness could be greatly enhanced by encouraging youth
participation in government and society, and by addressing the
inequalities that affect them, especially gender inequality.
17
Case study 2: Youth policy in Canada and Qubec Young people aren't
just the leaders of
Canada does not have a national youth policy, a national youth tomorrow, they're the
organization/association, or a federal authority responsible for youth. When leaders of today. Their
the Liberal Party formed the government in November 2015, Prime Minister voices matter the
Justin Trudeau appointed himself Canadas first federal Minister for Youth. things they do now can
Most Canadian provinces have youth policies. The disadvantage of leaving
have a tremendous
impact to change the
youth services and policy to provincial and municipal bodies is that services
world, right now.
to youth may not be comparable across the country.
The Right Honourable Justin
Qubec manages youth policy at the highest level of the provincial Trudeau, Prime Minister of
government, and has had comprehensive youth policy in place since 2001. Canada
18
local level. Such a holistic approach could help promote greater equity for
youth and facilitate their meaningful participation in economic life.
The International Youth Foundation (IYF) has put such a holistic policy
framework into action. A founding partner of the S4YE coalition, IYF has
partnered with over 470 organizations to strengthen youth policy at local
and national levels. 77 The Foundation's life skills curriculum, Passport to
Success, has reached youth in more than 40 countries, while their Build
Your Business digital tool is used by more than 300 organizations in 20
countries to help young people found successful small and micro
enterprises. 78
19
Case study 3: Youth gain education and campaign on rights in
Mali
Case study 4: Youth employment in the Occupied Palestinian So here I stand... one
girl among many. I
Territory
speaknot for myself,
but for all girls and
According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, about four in boys. I raise up my
every ten youths in the OPT was unemployed during the second quarter of voicenot so that I can
2015, even though nearly half of those unemployed had completed at least shout, but so that those
13 years of schooling. The unemployment rate among youth graduates was without a voice can be
52 percent. heard. Those who have
Since 2009 the Youth Employment Support Program (YES) offers youth fought for their rights:
technical training, vocational training, on-the-job training and Their right to live in
entrepreneurship support. YES is run by Taawon, a longstanding peace. Their right to be
Palestinian non-government organization. Through the YES portal, job treated with dignity.
seekers can access paid internship and apprenticeship opportunities that
Their right to equality of
opportunity. Their right
significantly enhance their employability. They can even secure a first six-
to be educated.
month employment opportunity.
Malala Yousafzais, 19, Pakistan,
In addition to financial and technical support, participants receive extensive girls education activist and 2014
workplace success training focused on communication skills, teamwork and Nobel Peace Prize recipient
20
The program has successfully provided new graduates with access to the
labor market and increased their employment prospects. It has also worked
towards equal employment for youth from different geographical locations,
thus decreasing internal migration and increasing employment
opportunities in marginalized and rural areas.
YES has also supported young entrepreneurs with financial resources,
incubation services and entrepreneurship training. The program led to the
employment of over 800 young men and women, and in its first phase
helped them generate an aggregate annual income of $30m (US).
In the last five years there has been an explosion of meetings, summits,
forums, and other events aimed at bringing together youth and policy
leaders, youth from different regions of the world and youth organizations
to share experiences and build connections. Some recent examples
include the World Banks annual Youth Summit, started in 2013, 84 the
July 2013 Youth Takeover of the UN, 85 the Young Americas Summit
(held alongside the last four Summits of the Americas), 86 and the Youth
Summit in the UK to consult on the implementation of the SDGs. 87 It is
often difficult to gauge how diverse or representative youth participation
is in these high profile events, and some of them are certainly only
accessible to select youth representatives.
21
Other multilateral initiatives are open to a wide range of youth
organizations. In 2010, the League of Arab States co-organized the Euro-
Arab Youth Conference in Ragusa, Italy, together with the Council of
Europe, the Italian Youth Forum, and the European Youth Forum, which
resulted in policy recommendations for greater socio-economic and
political inclusion of young migrants. 88 In 2012 the Euro-Arab Youth
leadership meetings were formalized with the foundation of the
Mediterranean University on Youth and Development. There now exists a
global network of Universities on Youth and Development facilitated by
the NorthSouth Centre of the Council of Europe. These gatherings draw
broad participation from individual youth and a wide variety of youth
organizations, and educate young people on how to gain the broadest
impact from their movements. 89 In 2015 the first CELAC-EU Youth Days
conference sought to provide an arena for youth from Latin America, the
Caribbean and Europe to share ideas about youth employment and bring
youth demands to policy makers. 90
22
Case study 5: Bolivia and Peru: Indigenous youth participate
through art
23
The countys bursary program for secondary and university education has
reached a large number of needy students, and is contributing to reducing
inequality in access to education. And the mere existence of county-level
government has provided direct employment for hundreds of young people.
However, those being hired are overwhelmingly highly educated, male, and
98
living in less remote parts of the county.
Despite its shortcomings, this progressive policy has emboldened youth to
stand up for their rights. Recently, a group of young people sued the
government for failing to respect the constitutional mandate to hire a certain
99
proportion of women and ethnic minorities.
At the same time, there remains too great a preoccupation with youth
education and employment alone. If governments want to make progress
on addressing the underlying reasons for youth unemployment and
educational failure, they must implement policies that recognize and
address the underlying causes of the unequal position of young people in
society. They should reduce inequality generally, invest in sustainable
development for the future and ensure youth, in all their diversity, are
participating in policy decision making.
24
4 YOUTH LEADING THE
WAY
From Spains Indignados to Greeces pro-Syriza protesters, from the
social media-savvy leaders of the Arab Spring protests to the crowds
behind Occupy Wall Street, youth are at the forefront of many of the
worlds notable political movements.
Young people, especially students, have long been key actors of social
movements demanding progressive change. The difference today is that
youth face unique challenges and opportunities, and represent over a
quarter of the global population, the largest youth population ever seen.
They live in a world with extreme levels of wealth and inequality, and
where the presence of climate change is an imminent threat to young
livelihoods, futures, and the survival of the planet. The two factors of a
large youth population and extreme inequality mean that todays youth
have unprecedented motivation to challenge the status quo and
unparalleled potential for effecting social and political change, through
their strength in numbers and a highly interconnected world.
Youth are also finding their own solutions to challenges of joblessness Todays young people
and hopelessness, even in countries with very high unemployment. One are ready and willing
young man in rural Kenya, Alex Nairowua, turned his love of hiking and (but not necessarily
knowledge of the mountains in his home area into a source of income by able) to put their
ingenuity and resources
starting a website advertising guided hikes to tourists. Through
to work for themselves
innovation, creativity and perseverance, young people are finding and their communities.
solutions to their problems and a sense of community. S4YE Baseline Report
25
first issues depicts the practice of dyeing baby chickens pink in order to
reduce losses to hawks and other predators. Given that each issue is
estimated to reach 10 million youth across all platforms, the project has the
potential to transform thousands of young lives. Shujaaz won an Emmy
award in 2012 for innovative educational programming. 102
The fundamental role of
In Guatemala, youth are risking their lives to protect the environment.
this movement is to
Organized Youth in Defense of Life (JODVID), founded in 2015 in the town
come to grips with its
of Jalapa, seeks to address the negative impacts of mining in their region. true strength, which is
In the face of violent repression, the members of JODVID, together with not only its capacity for
other local committees, succeeded in winning a ruling from the exerting pressure, but
Guatemalan Constitutional Court to require a Canadian mining company to its capacity to make
comply with community demands. 103 proposals and
undertake political
The following case studies highlight some recent youth-led political action.
protest movements from across the world. Camila Vallejo, 28, Chilean
student protest leader
One of the largest youth movements in recent years was the effort by
Chiles students to force an overhaul of the higher education system. Chile
has the second highest gross national income (GNI) in South America, but
104
also one of the worlds highest rates of economic inequality.
In 2006, secondary school students began to rebel against an education
system that allowed only 40 percent of Chilean students to receive a free
secondary education in public schools (the rest attended private and
105
charter schools).
In what came to be known as the Penguin Revolution, due to the colours of
the students uniforms, students organized strikes and marches seeking
repeal of the law that minimized the national governments responsibility for
ensuring access to education. They also demanded the elimination of fees
for the university admissions test and for student transit passes.
The movement quickly spread across the country, and on May 30, 2006
between 600,000 and one million students went on strike at over 250
schools. The government responded with reform proposals that met many,
but not all, of the students demands. After uneasy negotiations, movement
leaders joined the Presidential Council and called off the strikes.
In 2011, the protests began anew, this time at Chiles universities, which at
the time were proportionally among the worlds most expensive, with tuition
costing $3,400 a year in a country where the average annual salary was
106
about $8,500.
The students demanded free tuition at public universities, meaningful
student participation in university governance, equitable admissions with
less emphasis on standardized tests, and government action to punish
profiteering by public universities.
Students used creative forms of protest, such as kiss-ins and flash-mobs,
in combination with occupations and strikes to press their agenda. Marches
of hundreds of thousands of students were common in the summer of 2011
In January 2016 President Michelle Bachelet announced a program to
107
allow 165,000 students to attend 30 universities for free. This major
victory for all of Chiles students was a hopeful sign of greater equity in
Chiles education system.
26
Case study 8: Fed up in Senegal and Burkina Faso
27
The result was the approval of the Municipal Law for Youth in the city of
Sucre and the draft bills now being consulted with youth to be negotiated
later with local authorities in the municipality of El Alto and the department
of Tarija. The process itself generated important linkages among youth
organizations and encouraged other legislative initiatives focused on youth
across the country.
The case studies in this section illustrate how youth are engaging with
government to demand that their concerns be heard and acted upon. In
all of them the central goal is to make youth concerns impossible to
ignore. Evident in their demands for change are the inequalities young
women and men face. In the Chilean case youth are demanding fair
access to education. In Senegal and Burkina Faso youth are protesting
their disproportionate unemployment and the fact that leaders are
unaccountable. The latter connects with the concern of youth that their
society has concentrated wealth in the hands of a few and that there is
no easy path ahead for young people.
28
5 CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
It is time to support youth as agents of their own
future
The voices of the young have become too important to ignore. If societies
hope to enjoy a stable and prosperous future and reap the rewards of the
demographic dividend, these voices must be listened to and acted upon,
starting now. A variety of promising policy interventions point the way to a
better path forward.
By changing the policies that have drastically widened the gap between
rich and poor, we can hope to narrow the divide of power and wealth
between youth and older generations and between various groups of
young people themselves. Initiatives that reduce inequality generally also
help the worlds youth. Indeed, if we are to even up the gap between
todays youth and previous generations, we must re-evaluate failed
policies and instead place the interests of the public before the
interests of the powerful.
The inequalities that affect young people all over the world are not only
economic; they are social and political. The pressing problems that
todays generation of youth has unjustly inherited, like climate change,
will only be solved when young people's energy, creativity and talent are
brought to bear.
Youth are already playing, and must continue to play, a central role in
creating a future in which they can succeed and lead meaningful lives. In
order to hold governments to account, youth can leverage their strength
in numbers, reaching out to local politicians and asking what they are
doing to address youth well-being. Furthermore, youth must continue to
organize into responsible and accountable organizations and seek to
develop joint agendas with government bodies to tackle inequality.
To that end, Oxfam, in consultation with young women and men, offers
the following recommendations.
29
RECOMMENDATIONS
For national governments and multilateral
organizations:
Include young people in the design, implementation and monitoring
of policies and in decision making, especially for issues that affect
their lives.
Increase access to quality education for both girls and boys, with
particular attention to girls completion of secondary education and
access to non-formal educational opportunities.
Oppose privatization of public services. Free healthcare and
education are human rights and they mitigate the worst impacts of
economic inequality for youth.
30
encourage entrepreneurship. Ensure equal access and opportunities
for young women and for young people living with disabilities.
Promote the social responsibility of large companies and
multinationals. Encourage them to offer internships to new graduates
and guarantee that a percentage of those internships result in paid
opportunities; support initiatives to raise minimum wages and limit
executive pay.
31
Work with youth, educators and decision makers to shift norms
and behaviors regarding gender role stereotypes and to
encourage all to value the equal rights of girls in society.
Facilitate safe environments for young people to engage with
other civil society actors and government institutions, in which
they can develop their capacities, skills and confidence.
Support the development of an enabling environment for young
people to participate meaningfully by engaging constructively with
adults who hold decision-making power.
Actively work to ensure that programs and activities are not
maintaining or replicating pre-existing inequalities that affect
youth.
32
ANNEX 1
Countries that have a National Youth Policy
*= Countries where Oxfam is active ^= Countries with a draft youth policy or where it is unclear
whether current youth policy qualifies as a national policy
Note: Youthpolicy.org only considers a country as having a National Youth Policy if it is holistic in the issues it
covers and applied by the National Government across all parts of the country. There are many countries with some
policy instruments aimed at youth where it is unclear as to whether they can be considered truly National Youth
Policies or not. For the purposes of this table, we have included countries in unclear situations in the list of countries
that do have a National Youth Policy.
33
Cape Verde ^*Jordan ^*Paraguay *United Kingdom
Indonesia Pakistan
Italy Somalia
Source: http://www.youthpolicy.org/ 0verview of National Youth Policies, with some corrections and
verifications from Oxfam Country Offices. https://www.oxfam.org/en/worldwide
34
NOTES
1 Das Gupta et al. (2014). State of the World Population 2014: The power of 1.8 billion.
UNFPA
2 Ibid. p. 3.
3 US Census Bureau International Database. Midyear Population by Youth Age Groups
and Sex UN Africa. Retrieved May 5th, 2016.
http://www.census.gov/population/international/data/idb/region.php?N=%20Results%20
&T=4&A=both&RT=0&Y=2016&R=110&C=
4 UN DESA (2011). World Youth Report. Conclusions.
http://unworldyouthreport.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=10:conclusions
&Itemid=131
5 Ibid. p. 21.
6 UN Press Release (May 28 2015). We Are the First Generation that Can End Poverty,
the Last that Can End Climate Change, Secretary-General Stresses at University
Ceremony. Retrieved June 6th, 2016. www.un.org/press/en/2015/sgsm16800.doc.htm
7 De Waal and Argenti (2002). p. 16.
8 Republic of Kenya. 2010. The Constitution of Kenya. p. 165. http://www.kenya-
information-guide.com/support-files/the_constitution_of_kenya.pdf
9 The Presidency, Republic of South Africa (April 2015). National Youth Policy 2015-
2020. p. 10.
http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/MediaLib/Downloads/Downloads/NYP%20Policy%202
020%20Report.pdf. Honduras Fact Sheet (October 2014).
http://www.youthpolicy.org/factsheets/country/honduras/. The African Youth Charter
defines youth as from age 15 to age 35.
10 Oxfam (Sept 2015). Youth as Active Citizens: Global Track Record. p. 7.
11 United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (2004) World Youth Report
2003: The Global Situation of Young People. New York: United Nations. United Nations
Population Fund (2003). Making 1 Billion Count: Investing in Adolescents Health and
Rights. State of the World Population 2003. New York: UNFPA.
12 Oxfam D. Hardoon, R. Fuentes-Nieva and S. Ayele (2016) An Economy For the 1%:
How privilege and power in the economy drive extreme inequality and how this can be
stopped. http://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/an-economy-for-the-1-how-
privilege-and-power-in-theeconomy-drive-extreme-inequ-592643
13 OECD. 2014. Income Inequality Update. Rising Inequality: Youth and the Poor Fall
Further Behind. https://www.oecd.org/social/OECD2014-Income-Inequality-Update.pdf
14 The Economist. April 26, 2014. Age Invaders: A generation of old people is about to
change the world economy. http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21601248-
generation-old-people-about-change-global-economy-they-will-not-all-do-so
15 The Gini coefficient, named after the Italian statistician Corrado Gini, is a measure of
inequality where a rating of 0 represents total equality, with everyone taking an equal
share, and a rating of 1 (or sometimes 100) would mean that one person has
everything. Quoted in Oxfam. 2015. Even it Up Time to End Extreme Inequality. p.33.
http://oxf.am/Ffd
16 Grusky and Kanbur (2006). Conceptual Foundations of Poverty and Inequality
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17 Bourgois, P. (2001). The power of violence in war and peace: Post-Cold War lessons
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18 The Demographic and Health Surveys Program (2011). Ethiopia: Standard DHS, 2011,
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19 Corak, M. (2013). Income Inequality, Equality of Opportunity, and Intergenerational
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20 Isaacs, Sahwill, and Haskins, Getting ahead or losing ground economic mobility in
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21 See, for example, E. Gakidou et al (2010) Increased educational attainment and its
effect on child mortality in 175 countries between 1970 and 2009: a systematic
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22 United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) (2016). World
Youth Report on Youth Civic Engagement. p. 104.
23 http://www.worldpolicycenter.org/policies/is-primary-education-tuition-free
24 GEMS Cambridge International School Nairobi Website. 2015-2016 Fee Structure.
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25 University of Parakou Website: http://www.univ-parakou.bj/index.php?id=A01
35
Agriculture Univesity of Ktou, website http://www.uakbenin.org/
26 Sawahel, W. (June 21, 2009). Benin: Higher Education in Crisis. University World
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27 Canadian Federation of Students. (2015). International Comparisons, http://cfs-
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28 Savoie, L.P. (August 2012). Les tudiants dans le rouge : limpact de lendettement
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29 United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) (2016). World
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30 Human Rights Watch. (February 2013). Report: High Stakes: Political Violence and the
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31 United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) (2016). World
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32 The Guardian Newspaper. (December 31, 2015). Young black men in US killed by
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33 World Bank, (2014) Income Inequality and Violent Crime. Evidence from Mexicos Drug
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34 P. Giuliano & A. Spilimbergo (2009). Growing Up in a Recession: Beliefs and the
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35 United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) (2016). World
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36 MercyCorps (2015). Youth & Consequences: Unemployment, Injustice and Violence
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37 Ibid. p. 8.
38 P. Giuliano & A. Spilimbergo (2009) Growing Up in a Recession: Beliefs and the
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12-14, http://www.nber.org/papers/w15994
39 Quote from Sara Elder, lead author of the 2015 ILO report Global Employment Trends
for youth 2015.
40 Y. Cho & D. Newhouse (2013). How did the Great Recession Affect Different Types of
Workers? Evidence from 17 Middle-Income Countries, World Development 41: 31-50,
p. 32, 39.
41 International Labor Organization (ILO) (2013). Decent Work and Youth: Policies for
Action. p. 27. http://www.ilo.org/americas/publicaciones/WCMS_235577/lang--
es/index.htm
42 M. Dao & P. Loungani (2010). The Human Cost of Recessions: Assessing It, Reducing
It, International Monetary Fund Staff Position Note 10/17, Washington: International
Monetary Fund, https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/spn/2010/spn1017.pdf
43 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (2014). Rising inequality:
youth and poor fall further behind, Income Inequality Update, June 2014,
http://www.oecd.org/social/OECD2014-Income-Inequality-Update.pdf
44 ILO (2015). Global Employment Trends for Youth 2015. p. 2.
45 International Labor Organization (2015). op. cit., p. 49.
46 Ibid.
47 Ibid.
48 ILO (2012). Global Employment Trends for Youth 2012. p. 9
49 ILO (2012). Global Employment Trends for Women 2012. p. 22-31.
50 G. Ferrant, L. Maria Pesando & K. Nowacka (2014). Unpaid Care Work: The missing
link in the analysis of gender gaps in labor outcomes, OECD Development Centre.
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51 ILO (2012). Working with youth: Addressing the youth employment challenge -
36
Highlights of the national and regional events with young people.
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/---
ed_emp_msu/documents/publication/wcms_181907.pdf
52 The Economist (2013) op. cit.; L. Khan (2010) The long-term labor market
consequences of graduating from college in a bad economy, Labor Economics 17: 303-
316; P. Oreopoulos, T. Von Wachter, & A. Heisz (2006) The Short- and Long-Term
Career Effects of Graduating in a Recession: Hysteresis and Heterogeneity in the
Market for College Graduates, NBER Working Paper No. 12159, Cambridge: National
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periods of recovery (p.15).
53 Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) (2014). Almanac of Post-
secondary Education in Canada Ottawa: Canadian Association of University Teachers,
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Nov-En.pdf
54 Canadian Federation of Students - Ontario (2010). The Racialized Impact of Tuition
Fees: Assessing the Social Cost of Post-Secondary Education Toronto: Canadian
Federation of Students Ontario, http://cfsontario.ca/downloads/CFS-
Racialised%20Impact%20of%20Tuition%20Fees.pdf
55 The Canadian Federation of Students: http://cfs-fcee.ca/student-debt-and-tuition-fees/
56 Savoie, L.P. (August 2012). Les tudiants dans le rouge : limpact de lendettement
tudiant ditions vie conomique: Cooprative de Solidarit. Vol. 4 (1).
http://www.eve.coop/mw-contenu/revues/16/157/RVE_vol4_no1_FEUQ.pdf
57 J. Berger, A. Motte, & A. Parkin (2009). The Price of Knowledge: Access and Student
Finance in Canada Fourth Edition. Montreal: The Canada Millennium Scholarship
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https://qspace.library.queensu.ca/bitstream/1974/5780/1/POKVol4_EN.pdf
58 Ibid.
59 Canadian Teachers Federation. (2015). Report : Youth Unemployment and
Underemployment in Canada. p.1. Underemployment describes all of the unmet
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60 P. Kershaw (2015). Population Aging, Generational Equity and the Middle-Class,
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61 Youth Policy Press. (2014). The State of Youth Policy in 2014. p. 8. The website
youthpolicy.org considers any national-level policy document relating to youth lives a
national youth policy, and thus includes Action Plans, Youth Strategies, and Youth
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62 Youthpolicy.org (September 2014). Oceania Countries Fact Sheets.
http://www.youthpolicy.org/factsheets/
63 Groth, A. (July 17, 2015). Entrepreneurs dont have a special gene for riskthey come
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64 Youth Employment Inventory Website. About the Youth Employment Inventory.
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65 Commonwealth Website (2013). Youth Development Index Homepage. Retrieved June
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66 For a complete list of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) see: UN
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67 UN. Office of the Secretary Generals Youth Envoy (28 October 2014). The First Global
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68 Figure based on information from African Country Factsheets at Youthpolicy.org.
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69 Figure based on contents of Constitutions accessed via constitute.org
70 Organization of American States Website (2016). OAS Youth Agenda.
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71 World Bank (2011). Article: The Global Partnership for Youth Employment celebrates
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SitePK:390615,00.html
37
72 International Youth Foundation Website. Where we work: Palestine
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73 Goldin (2015) Towards Solutions for Youth Employment: A 2015 Baseline Report. p.
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74 European Commission. 2016. Youth: Supporting Youth Actions in Europe - Structured
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75 Secrtariat la jeunesse. 2012. Summary of the 2009-2014 Youth Action Strategys
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76 Secrtariat a la Jeunesse de Qubec (2016) Stratgie DAction Jeunesse.
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77 International Youth Foundation Website. http://www.iyfnet.org/our-vision-mission
78 International Youth Foundation Website. Build your business.
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79 International Youth Foundation (2015) Youth Action Net at fifteen.
http://www.iyfnet.org/sites/default/files/library/2015.pdf
80 Ibid. p. 12.
81 Youth Policy Press, The State of Youth Policy in 2014. (2014). op. cit., 30
82 The European Youth Forum Website. Member Organizations.
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83 Asian Youth Council Website. About us. http://ayc.asia/10-2/
84 World Bank Website. Digital Youth Summit 2015
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85 Youth for Human Rights NGO Website. 12th Annual International Human Rights
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86 Young Americas Forum Website (2014). 2012-2014 - Hemispheric forums projecting
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2014
87 The Youth Summit Website. http://www.theyouthsummit.org/. The UK charity One
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88 European Youth Forum, League of Arab States et al. 2010. Ragusa Declaration on
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89 Network of Universities on Youth and Global Citizenship. About Us.
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90 EU-LAC Foundation (2016). CELAC-EU Youth Days.
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91 Wikina, E. (April 15 2016). #Youth4SDGs: A Stroll with Siamak Sam Loni, Global
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_b_9702430.html
92 http://sdgyouthactionmapper.org/
93 R. McCrory (September 2013). Global Youth Policy Advances 2013. Youth Studies
Australia (76)
94 UNDP (2013). Discussion Paper: Kenyas Youth Unemployment Challenge. p. 16
95 Government of Kenya, Access to Government Procurement Opportunities Program.
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96 Republic of Kenya, County Government of Kajiado (2013). p. 46.
97 World Bank. 2015. Young People, Democracy and Governance in Kenya: What they
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Story_29.05.2015.pdf
98 Glassco, J. (2016) Doctoral Thesis in progress. McGill University, Department of
Anthropology.
99 Agoya, V. (December 9 2014). Board denies locking out job applicants in hiring row.
The Daily Nation Newspaper. http://www.nation.co.ke/counties/Board-denies-locking-
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/index.html
38
100 Youth Ki Awaaz Website (2016). SBI Youth for India Fellowship.
http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/category/posts/campaigns/sbifellowship/
101 Commutiny: The Youth Collective Website. http://www.commutiny.in/
102 Olopade, D. (March 7 2014). Comic book convinces Kenyans to dye their chickens
pink. New Republic. https://newrepublic.com/article/116916/shujaaz-kenyan-comic-
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103 Breaking the Silence (BTS) NGO website. www.breakingthesilenceblog.com
104 The World Bank (2016). GNI per capita Atlas Method: South America Data.
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105 The Economist (April 14th, 2012). Progress and its discontents.
http://www.economist.com/node/21552566
106 The Economist (April 14th, 2012). Progress and its discontents.
http://www.economist.com/node/21552566
107 Maniebo, E. (January 13 2016). A students triumph: University education is now free
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triumph-university-education-is-now-free-in-chile/
39
Oxfam International August 2016
This paper was researched, written and coordinated by Jennifer Glassco and Lina Holguin.
Jennifer Glassco Jennifer Glassco is a 30-year old PhD candidate and course lecturer in the Department of
Anthropology at McGill University. Her research is on youth livelihoods and agency in Kenya, and a core focus of
her work is understanding and countering the impact of inequality on youth. She has a Masters of Arts in
Anthropology and Development at the University of Leiden, Netherlands, and has volunteered with research and
non-governmental organizations in Kenya and Tanzania.
Lina Holguin has worked for 18 years in international development. She joined Oxfam-Qubec in 2000 and is
currently the organizations Policy and Campaigns Director. She leads policy and advocacy work on inequality
and its impact on youth. Previously she was a journalist for radio and television. She has a Master of Arts in
Peace and Conflict Studies from the European Peace University, Austria.
Oxfam is grateful for the contributions from the following youth: Isabel Duchensne and Keith Drakeford, who
contributed to an earlier draft of this paper, Catherine Bourgault, Laurianne St-Onge and Caroline Doyon from
Oxfam-Qubecs Youth Observatory.
Many Oxfam colleagues gave written inputs and support to this paper. Special mention should be made to
Ronald Van Moorten, Stephanie de Chassy, Richard Touched, Kelly Bowden, Christian Ferreyra, Magalie
Lalibert, Fabrizio Biondi Morra, Lana Pasic (consultant). The paper was edited by Mark Fried.
For further information on the issues raised in this paper please email lina.holguin@oxfam.org
This publication is copyright but the text may be used free of charge for the purposes of advocacy, campaigning,
education, and research, provided that the source is acknowledged in full. The copyright holder requests that all
such use be registered with them for impact assessment purposes. For copying in any other circumstances, or
for re-use in other publications, or for translation or adaptation, permission must be secured and a fee may be
charged. Email policyandpractice@oxfam.org.uk
OXFAM
Oxfam is an international confederation of 18 affiliates and 2 observer organizations networked together in
more than 90 countries, as part of a global movement for change, to build a future free from the injustice of
poverty. Please write to any of the agencies for further information, or visit www.oxfam.org
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